Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.1 - On Deck

On Deck | Kate Sherwood

It takes a while for Dan to understand what he's feeling. His stomach is kind of queasy, and he's just a little off in other ways, alternately too hot and too cold, full of energy but unable to concentrate on anything. He guesses it
could
be the flu, but that doesn't seem right, somehow.

There's an unpleasant few moments when he wonders if maybe it's the effects of his concussion making themselves felt again. Lord knows they hadn't gone away as quickly or completely as Dan (or Evan) would have liked… but, no, this feels different.

He feels like an idiot when he realizes that he's just nervous. He feels stupid for not recognizing the emotion, but also for having it in the first place, damn it! It's just Evan. They've all been getting along great lately, hardly any tension except for the good kind, the attraction that blurs into want and then need, the teasing before the satisfaction. So what's to be nervous about?

Dan hears a knock at the door of the apartment and then Evan's voice calling out a greeting as he enters. Dan takes a quick look in the mirror as he yells back. "Hey, I'll be right there." The cast and the bruises are gone, the stitches have long since melted away to wherever dissolving stitches melt away to… there's still the thin line of a scar visible, but Dan doesn't think it's something he needs to worry about. And other than that, he pretty much looks the same—maybe a few pounds heavier from all the food Evan's been insisting he eat for the last few weeks. Dan isn't sure if he's being lovingly cared for or fattened up for Thanksgiving.
He straightens his collar and then heads out to the main room. "Hey,

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
man - Jeff make it off okay?"

Evan nods. "Yup, no problems. I think I'm going to hire myself a chauffeur. It is
so
much easier to get dropped off at the airport than to park there yourself."

"Yeah, a chauffeur. That's the logical solution. Why spend forty bucks on a cab when you could spend forty thousand on a chauffeur?" Evan frowns. "Shit, man, I wouldn't get a
cheap
chauffeur! I'm thinking eighty thousand at least!"

"Wow. Maybe I'll apply for the job." The nerves are gone, pretty much. Being around Evan is a lot easier than
thinking
about being around Evan. Once again, Dan's worst enemy is his own brain.

Evan is giving him the once over. "That a new shirt?"
Dan frowns. "Yeah, so?"

Evan's hands are raised immediately in surrender. "Nothing, man. I like it. It looks good. I just, you know… I didn't know you were going to go shopping for the occasion." He smiles wickedly. "I'm flattered, really." He steps a little closer and sniffs the air. "Damn, is that cologne?" He reaches a hand out to Dan's face, laughing when Dan jerks back. "Dude, I don't even
need
to touch to see that you're fresh-shaved." His smirk is very self-satisfied. "You got all dressed up for me, Dan!"

Dan scowls. "Fuck you." Dan sneaks a look at Evan, but the guy always looks pretty put together, so it's kind of hard to notice a difference. Dan wonders what it says about his own usual grooming that Evan can pick up on this little bit of fussing so easily.

Evan's still grinning, apparently not too worried. "You look really pretty, sweetheart."

 

"You're pushing it, dude."

 

"Are there any other surprises waiting for me? Fancy lingerie,
On Deck | Kate Sherwood
maybe?"

 

"Yeah, maybe the girl you pick up after I dump your ass
will
be wearing some, I don't know."

Evan just laughs, and pauses long enough for Dan to know that the teasing is over. Or that Evan's building up for another round. But Evan's voice is calm and sincere when he continues. "Okay, yeah. You ready to go?"

Dan shrugs cautiously. "I don't know— you tell me. It's a bit hard to know if I'm ready when I don't know where we're going…."

Evan looks Dan up and down, then smiles. "Yeah, man, you're ready. You're perfect." He steps aside to let Dan precede him out of the apartment. Dan's not really sure what to do with this new dynamic; chivalrous, solicitous Evan had started up when Dan was recovering from his fall and actually
needed
a little extra care, but Evan seems totally happy to be carrying on with it now that Dan's better. Dan isn't sure how to make it stop without seeming churlish. And he's not actually sure he wants it to stop; sometimes it feels like an unwelcome slight to his masculinity, but sometimes it just feels nice. Like he's being taken care of.

For now, he goes along with it. Evan has spent enough time at the apartment to know to lock the door before pulling it shut behind him, so Dan just keeps moving down the stairs to Evan's car. The passenger side door is locked, which is unusual when Evan is just dropping in somewhere, but that makes sense when Evan comes up behind Dan and reaches around him to put the key in the lock and then gallantly open the door for him. Dan rolls his eyes and Evan smirks like he's won another point in whatever game they're playing.

Evan waits until Dan is safely inside and then gently shuts the door before circling around to his own side and climbing in. Dan waits until they're on the main road before mildly commenting, "You know, this
On Deck | Kate Sherwood
whole date thing was my idea in the first place."

 

Evan glances at him in surprise. "Yeah, man, I know." He looks a little confused. "Great idea."

 

"Yeah, so, you know… how come you're acting like you're the one in charge?"

 

Evan frowns. "You said I could plan it…."

 

And there it is, Dan seeming churlish. Damn. "Yeah, I know… I just… dude, I can open my own door!"

 

"Yeah, man, I know you can." Evan shrugs, and looks over at Dan fondly. "But I can open it, too… is it really that big of a deal?" Dan sighs. "It's not the door. Or, you know…."

"You think it makes you less of a man if another man opens a door for you?" Evan smiles. "It's okay for another man to suck you off, or give you a hand job… it's okay for you to fuck another man, but doors… they're over the line." Evan's smile gets a little sharper. "And
getting
fucked, of course. Only girly-men take it up the ass…."

This conversation just got a lot more serious than Dan was planning to make it. Insofar as he had planned it at all. "That's not…." He leans his head against the cool glass of the window. "That's not what I meant. It's not what I think…."

Evan looks like he's going to make a bigger deal about it, but he pulls himself back. "Okay. If it bugs you, I can try to ease off on the door stuff."

Dan doesn't like the look on Evan's face, and he doesn't like to be the one who put it there. He thinks for a moment. "The door stuff… you know… sometimes it's okay."
Evan glances over as if he's trying to read Dan's expression.

On Deck | Kate Sherwood

"Sometimes. Okay, well, that's a little vague. Can you give me some firmer guidelines?" He sounds like he's mostly joking, but he's still waiting for an answer.

An answer that Dan doesn't really have. "Uh…not really?"

They're on the highway now, heading up towards the city, and Evan has to concentrate on traffic for a bit, steering around a van pulled over to the side with its hood up, and all the other cars doing strange things to avoid the obstacle. By the time they're clear, Dan is hoping that Evan has forgotten the whole thing, but Evan apparently hasn't. "So, what, I can do it sometimes, but sometimes I'm going to get my head bit off for trying, and I'm never going to know which it is?"

"Well…that doesn't sound good." Dan tries to see things from Evan's perspective. "Let me ask you, man— why do you
want
to do it?" Evan tries to deflect. "I don't know… it just seems polite, you know?"

"Bullshit." Dan's not mad, but he's not letting Evan get away with that. "You don't open doors for Jeff. You do for Tat, but only if she's dressed up or something. And for Robyn, or other women, but not all the time, just if you get there first. And not for other men, not that I've ever seen." He shakes his head. "It's not just manners, not if you only do it with me."

Evan's quiet for a bit, and Dan hopes it's because he's really thinking about the question, not just looking for a new way to deflect it. He looks at Dan before he starts talking, and his expression is open enough that Dan thinks Evan's going to try to be honest. "I just liked it, you know? When you were hurt?" He realizes what he's said, and corrects himself in a rush. "I mean, I didn't like it that you were hurt. I hated that. I still think Winston should be heading for the dog food factory. But, you know… I liked taking care of you." He smiles fondly. "I never really got it, with Jeff… the way that he took care of me. I thought he was feeling guilty, or,

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
you know, just being a big gentle freak, but… I don't know… when it was my turn… it was kind of nice." He pauses. "It was
really
nice."

Dan doesn't actually have anything to say to that, but Evan is clearly waiting for a reply. "Yeah, okay…." Dan thinks back to Justin, remembers how they'd take turns making Sunday breakfasts, and how nice it had been to make Justin's favorites. He remembers how Justin had always polished Dan's boots and tack before a show, at the same time he was doing his own. And he remembers with a flash of shame that he'd bitched to Justin about it, had thought that it was Justin's way of saying that Dan didn't do a good enough job, was making the stable look bad. Justin had looked so hurt to realize that his gesture had been misinterpreted. "Fuck."

Evan has apparently gotten lost in his own thoughts as Dan was lost in his, and he looks over in surprise. "What?"

Dan sighs. "Can you… can you only do it in private? I mean, don't go pulling my chair out at restaurants, and don't do the door thing around the barn, but, you know…I'm okay with it if it's just us."

"And Jeff…."

 

Dan nods his head. "That's what I said… just us." He smiles over at Evan and is rewarded by the warm affection in Evan's eyes.

The rest of the drive is taken up with idle chatter, mostly Dan trying to guess where they're going. He's still new to the area and really doesn't know where anything is, so his guesses are based mostly on the signs at the side of the road. They're heading up through the city, and Dan can safely say that he has no idea what they're up to. Evan changes into the right lane, and then back in to the center, and looks over sheepishly at Dan.

"Oops. I wasn't paying attention— almost took you to the office." He shakes his head. "Damn, I needed a day off, I guess—getting to be too much of a drone."
"So,
not
the office, then… that was gonna be my next guess."

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
They're downtown, and Dan looks around with some interest. "Can you see the building from here?"

 

Evan nods. "Wait another minute…." He gestures with his right hand. "That one, over there. The big black one."

 

"Huh. That's…."

 

"Dude, it was the eighties. It was cutting edge, I guess, when we built it…."

 

"Wait, you guys
built
it? Like, the whole building?"

Evan looks confused. "Well, you know… the company, not me. I was just a kid. And they didn't build it by hand… there were contractors, or whatever…."

"But… shit, do you guys own the whole building? I thought… I don't know, I thought you'd just rent a floor or two somewhere."

Evan grins. "You don't really believe I run a company at all, do you? You think I just drive off every day, go work in middle management somewhere, and then come home and make up stories."

"No, dude, I… I realized you ran a company, I just… it's a pretty damn
big
company, huh?"

Evan makes his voice breathy. "Oh, yeah, Dan, it's
huge
." He grins, then shrugs. "We rent a few of the lower floors out, and there's retail on the ground level. But 8 to 32—that's all us. You can come for a visit sometime, if you want. It's not really too interesting, though. Just offices. We have factories and stuff, but they're not downtown, obviously."

Dan has had little bits of this conversation before. He knows that the company is highly diversified, doesn't have one field in which they specialize, and he guesses he should have known from the sheer number of different industries Evan mentioned that there would be a lot of people working for him, but… 24 floors is still a lot, especially when it's for just

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
management types, not even making anything.

Evan is pulling into a parking lot, and Dan has missed the sign, doesn't know where they are, and then he sees the ocean, sees the boats lined up in orderly rows. He looks over at Evan, who's watching him with some trepidation.

"This okay? You don't get seasick, do you?"

 

"I, uh… I have no idea, really. I've been in a motor boat a couple times, and that was okay, but it was just on a lake."

Evan looks cautiously hopeful. "That might be an okay test. Jeff gets totally sick, and Tat isn't really a big fan of sailing." He looks out over the boats. "This was my mom's thing, really. She was a great sailor, competed nationally when she was younger. She used to take me out all the time, just her and me…." There's a second where he looks like a sad little boy, and Dan resolves to do whatever it takes to get rid of that look, but Evan shakes it off all on his own. "We used to go out in her Laser, but I'm really too big for one of those just on my own now, let alone with a passenger." Then he's opening his door, and Dan hurries to get his own open, and to climb out before Evan can come over to help.